1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for deep fat frying, and more particularly to apparatus for transferring bulk quantities of breaded food portions into and out of a fry pot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern convenience restaurants feature rapid service for prepared foods such as fried chicken, fish and potatoes. According to the conventional method for frying of breaded food products such as chicken, approximately 75 pounds of frying shortening are required to cook ten pounds of chicken. The chicken is typically cut in either eight or nine pieces per head. The chicken is then breaded and loaded directly into the shortening by hand, with the loading time being from 90 to 120 seconds. The first product loaded has substantially longer cooking time than the final product loaded, requiring the exercise of judgment on part of the operator as to which pieces are loaded first, as well as speed and dexterity to insure that the loading time is minimized. After the frying cycle is completed, the pieces of chicken are removed using a previously submerged screen rack with handles which brings all the pieces out simultaneously, or the pieces are scooped out at a rate of one or two pieces at a time by means of a scoop having a perforated screen mounted on a handle, or the pieces may be removed by tongs. In each of these methods, the fried product may be damaged either by accidentally stacking the pieces on top of one another, or by abrasion or squeezing when the product is removed. If the fried product is removed one piece at a time, substantial unloading time is required which causes a variation in the cooking time if all the pieces are not removed simultaneously.
After the fried product is removed in the conventional system, it must be carefully placed in an orderly manner on some type of screen to allow draining to be completed. It is common practice to place the screen and products on a tray and transfer the tray to a warming cabinet for holding until the product is sold or served.
One problem associated with the conventional method of frying breaded food products is the preservation of the cooking oil, which is relatively expensive. A significant factor which degrades the quality of the cooking oil is aeration or oxidation of the cooking oil. The rate at which the cooking oil becomes aerated is directly related to the surface area of the pool of cooking oil which is exposed to the atmosphere, which is equal to the cross-sectional area of the open mouth of the fry pot. For a conventional fry pot unit having the capacity to cook ten pounds of chicken, the surface area or fry pot mouth cross-sectional area normally provided is typically 18 inches by 18 inches (324 square inches). Therefore it would be desirable to provide apparatus for processing the same amount of chicken with relatively less surface area of cooking oil exposed to the atmosphere.
Another problem associated with the conventional method for cooking breaded food products is the risk of burn injury. Because the cooking oil may be extremely hot, for example 350.degree. F. or higher, the operator and his co-workers are exposed to the risk of serious burn injury from the inadvertent or accidental splashing of hot cooking oil as the fried products are manually inserted into or removed from the fry pot. In some consoles in which fry pots are located side-by-side, the cooking cycle on an adjacent fryer must sometimes be interrupted to avoid exposing co-workers to the risk of being burned by splashing or splattering of cooking oil as the food portions are manually loaded or unloaded. The cost for such a delay is substantial, particularly in fast service restaurants. Therefore it would be desirable to provide apparatus in which the insertion and removal of breaded products can be accomplished automatically without exposing the operator or his co-workers to the risk of burn injury and without delaying operations in adjacent fry pots.
When frying breaded food products in bulk quantities according to conventional techniques, the individual breaded portions are manually inserted into the fry pot at the start of the cooking cycle which may take up to two minutes. They are withdrawn manually as discussed above. It is not practicable to insure uniform cooking time for each piece of breaded food product when the food products are inserted and withdrawn manually. This variation in cooking time causes a variation in the quality of the fried product, usually resulting in some pieces being overcooked or burned. This also impairs the quality of the cooking oil because the amount of food particles and bread particles which become suspended in the pool of oil is generally proportional to the length of time that the breaded food products remain in the oil. The presence of food particles in the cooking oil causes it to smoke, impairs the heat transfer efficiency of the oil and imparts a disagreeable flavor to the food portions. Therefore it is desirable to minimize the length of time that the food products are actually in the cooking oil. By minimizing the cooking time, the amount of energy required to heat the cooling oil is also minimized, and a more rigid turnover of prepared food products can be carried out in response to increased demand.